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Extreme Reality makes a valiant attempt at tracking 3D movements with a standard camera

Extreme Reality makes a valiant attempt at tracking 3D movements with a standard camera

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beat booster extreme reality
beat booster extreme reality

Consumer-level 3D cameras like Microsoft's Kinect provide an accessible way to track body movements for gaming, but the hardware is not exactly cheap. Extreme Reality hopes to provide similar a 3D tracking experience, but wants to do so with just a standard 2D camera. By utilizing Extreme Motion technology, users equipped with their own camera can play games or navigate around menus without requiring any additional hardware.

We got a chance to play a few games using Extreme Reality's tracking system, and while the company's product was able to detect my movements, it was choppy and inconsistent. In the racing game Beat Booster, the camera — which was a standard built-in laptop webcam — was able to tell when I was bending side to side when steering, and did an admirable job at detecting when I would lean forward to increase my speed. It did work surprisingly well, considering that it isn't paired with a couple of cameras, but not nearly as well as something like the Kinect.

The most impressive aspect of Extreme Reality's offerings is that the software required to enable three-dimensional tracking is built into the games. Pandamania, a dance game made by Extreme Reality, can even be purchased now through Samsung's app store for PCs running Windows 8. Developer tools are also available for those looking to make 3D games without forcing players to buy expensive peripherals.